Not worrying when a blade tugs - some thoughts....

[Limekiln]

As background, I shave daily with a Mühle R41 and Shark SS blade. My growth is medium: my stubble is not heavy but not light either. I load a new blade every 7 days (and certainly could let each go longer). I've been doing this for 5+ years, and I still enjoy the morning routine.
I read a lot on blade reviews about performance tapering off because the blade starts to tug. For most who review, this signals the end of the blade and they then advise loading a new one. (YMMV always, of course).
As I shaved this morning I began to think about this a bit - shaving being a great way to start the day in contemplative mood. I believe I experience tugging towards the end of the 7-day cycle. However it has never bothered me and I've always thought of it more as simply the shave needing more work rather than the blade "tugging". There is no discomfort, and certainly no post-shave irritation. Mind you if I had 3 days growth and used an old blade with the tugging feeling like trying to extract the hairs with a tweezers (OUCH!)...then fair enough, it would become problematic. But that's not what I experience.
So I would like to hereby make the case for tugging.
A little more effort, some annoyance that the blade is not scything through the stubble like a hot blade through butter, but otherwise why is it an issue? To some extent I actually appreciate this extra effort, since it renders the move to a nice new sharp blade which flies effortlessly through the stubble very pleasurable.

I'd be happy to hear other views on the matter.

PS: My advocacy has nothing to do with the affordability of blades - of course most of us can afford a new blade every 1,2 or 3 days. That's not the point. It just seems a bit wasteful to throw a blade away just because its edge is not as keen as it was new.

 

[santamariasteve]

Brother Lime,

There is no case to be made for using a used (or new) blade that is "tugging." None. Shaving should be about pleasure and an improved appearance, not work or discomfort.

 

[BigJ]

This is really up to the user.

Excalibur Club guys get tons of shaves per blade and routinely ‘work through’ tugging or other unpleasant sensations. My opinion is that ‘expensive’ blades cost only pennies per use. Thus, I change to a new blade when a blade less than enjoyable or if I want a change. Where you stand is totally up to you!

 

[troy]

I don't count shaves or worry about a little tugging. I just use a blade until it takes more effort than I want to put into it to get an acceptable shave. Most blades go at least 5-10 shaves, some have gone over 30. There are lots of guys around here who like to use a blade until it's done rater than tossing just because it hit a meaningless number of shaves. You may want to check out the excalibur club. There's a link in my sig.

 

[Sgtfda]

I change the blade after 2 shaves. I get a perfect shave. The challenge for me is a perfect shave. A enjoyable shave. Not saving a few cents. Why fight a old blade? Others get pleasure seeing how many shaves a blade will work for them . To each their own.

 

[enthusiastic]

If I didn't mind a blade tugging the hairs out of my face, I would stop buying blades and just use a pair of tweezers to remove my facial hair. After 2 shaves, my blades get replaced.

 

[les24preludes]

With the R41 I found that playing around with top caps could give me better blade rigidity, and this seemed to cut down on the tugging. So I use the R41 bottom plate with a Yintal Bronze top cap which is heavier and also less wide and clamps differently. With an Astra SP this definitely gives a smoother shave with less tugging. I also use a heavier handle, a Yaqi matte black, which gives me 99g weight overall. There are other factors in play here, and in terms of rigidity I also get less tugging with GEM PTFE blades, which are very rigid.

 

[Badgerstate36]

I think for almost everyone, its about comfort. There is no pleasure in a blade that tugs on your whiskers and DE blades are so cheap, why not just pitch one when it starts to tug?
I also think that most have very unfond memories of shaving with disposables and cartridges that have a tendency to be more tuggy and that brings back memories that most would prefer to not revisit.

 

[Twelvefret]

So even using a Feather Artist Club new has some resistance in some areas I shave. The secret for me is not trying to accomplish that much on the first pass.

 

[Saxonbowman]

I too usually change to a new blade after 6-7 shaves. You do develop a little resistance at that point. Some say that is because the PTFE coating wears off and the blade lacks the slickness that this provides. Like @Big-J says once you work through this the blade is good for many more shaves. I usually get bored with a blade/razor combination after a week so the slight tugging gives me an excuse to change. The One Blade In February challenge is a nice time to push a blade a little further.

 

[AshleyC]

Brother Lime,

There is no case to be made for using a used (or new) blade that is "tugging." None. Shaving should be about pleasure and an improved appearance, not work or discomfort.

Second this notion. If you have several razors, which you most likely do, that means you have abandoned the "economical" aspect of DE shaving and gone whole hog into shaving as a lifestyle choice. And damn the torpedoes.

For example, unless I have extensive prep and an aggressive razor angle, the Voskhod blade tugs. So for me, the Voskhod is a "one and done" blade. The things are 8 cents, so why fret over it? I can find 8 cents on the ground near my parked car, if I bother to look.

 

[Esox]

If I find a blade tugging as it wears, which never tugged as a fresh blade, I just steepen the shave angle a bit and it goes away. By the time I'm shaving very steep and using more pressure than I normally would and it tugs, its finished.

I tested a GEM PTFE in my MMOC not long ago through my normal progression of very shallow with a fresh blade and gradually steeper until I was shaving with all blade and no cap and increasing pressure. It was fine on shave 12, but a bit tuggy and gave me a single ingrown hair on shave 13 so it was finished.

I've done the same testing Polsilver and Gillette Yellow in my Fatip Grande. Polsilver went 20 easily, Gillette Yellow 9, but was really done at shave #7. The most I've gotten from a Feather so far is 5, from a Derby Extra 6, all in the same razor.

 

[Villalobos]

I love to shave and will not sacrifice comfort. No tugging allowed. I have no set number of shaves for my blades and never kept track. I did receive a die in a PIF, and started tracking for fun. I start shaving on my left sideburn area and can tell with that first stroke if its time to change the blade. A smooth shave is what I aspire to, and not the closeness or bbs type smooth. But the kind of smooth where the blade passes so slick you wonder if it’s even working

 

[santamariasteve]

With the R41 I found that playing around with top caps could give me better blade rigidity, and this seemed to cut down on the tugging. So I use the R41 bottom plate with a Yintal Bronze top cap which is heavier and also less wide and clamps differently. With an Astra SP this definitely gives a smoother shave with less tugging. I also use a heavier handle, a Yaqi matte black, which gives me 99g weight overall. There are other factors in play here, and in terms of rigidity I also get less tugging with GEM PTFE blades, which are very rigid.

View attachment 953365

Brother Les,

Now that is quite a hybrid razor! I would nominate it for Mister Frankenrazor of 2019.

 

[johnwick]

I really don’t think I ever experience tugging per say. I agree with the OP that it’s a bit more work on my trouble spots such as my chin, or some harshness post shave. . I’ll also notice around 12 hours later that I have more growth.

 

[1Vader]

I was OCD about being able to use a blade for one week at the least, and I use to strop the blade on my forearms when I felt some tugging. Now I just don't bother, and simply chuck it.

 

[psfred]

Blades tug a lot more when the PTFE coatings are gone, Gillette figured that out 50 years ago. Actual sharpness and/or blade wear have little impact on the tugging sensation until the blade is very worn so long as you use technique that provides close to ideal cutting angle.

If you are tossing blades as soon as they tug, you are tossing blades that are a sharp as when the left the factory, just without PTFE coatings.

It takes a bit more care and it's not "sensation free shaving", but I find I get very nice, reasonably comfortable shaves for a long time -- mediocre blades last a month or two, good ones last almost a quarter before I start getting discomfort or, more usually, shaves that don't last as long. When I'm getting stubble by mid afternoon, the blade goes, not before. I can live a with a little more shaving sensation.

 

[Dog Whiskerer]

I like the feeling of shaving. Maybe some people translate that as tugging and ditch the blade, I don't know. I know when a blade is no longer cutting efficiently, and I know what an uncomfortable shave feels like. But I don't need the razor blade to skate across my face like Nancy Kerrigan to keep a blade in use.

 

[Toothpick]

some annoyance that the blade is not scything through the stubble like a hot blade through butter,

You’ve stated my case already. It’s not cutting as smooth as a new blade does. Time to swap!

 

[Limekiln]

Plenty of views here, which is great. The big reveal is the existence of Excalibur Club. Great stuff and thank you to those to directed me that way.
To those who keep quoting the mantra "they're so cheap so why worry", it's *still* not about the money (please reread the PS at bottom of my post!).
Also, I think the word tugging is very subjective. I don't ever get what I'd describe as tugging, more a sense of having to do some work to get to bbs. Which I am quite happy to do.
Anyway, all perspectives appreciated and ymmv of course.